Life of a secret hijabi

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New York! New York!

Ever since I was a little girl, anything and everyone kept saying how you just have to see the big apple! In uni we learned that New York is one of the most busiest cities in the world in terms of tourism, and I can see why. New York to me was different. I suppose it takes awhile for you to get used to it. The navigating itself is so different. It was a great experience but I just didn’t feel it. I’m not sure how to explain it. I know it’s weird because everyone is dying to go to New York but I think I’m not that much a city kinda gal. It was surprisingly similar to Colombo. Of course Colombo is no where near developed as New York, but the crowds the traffic, felt similar. The driving is so crazy and this was probably what surprised me the most because I thought Sri Lankan driving was crazy.

Time Square was magical, I loved it and I probably could have awkwardly stood there in the middle of it forever, just watching everything. We had to have a Broadway experience so we went and saw Mama Mia and it was great. Although if you have watched the movie, it kind of takes out a little bit of the fun but it was still a really nice experience. I think one of the things I liked about New York was how alive it was at night. I don’t know why but I don’t like cities that just go dead after evening rush hour, I like to see night life. I think I liked night time New York a lot better than day time New York.

Times Square (Sorry it’s not proper, I had to avoid people’s heads since I don’t like to take pictures of people)

So we went on a tour and covered all the tourist hot spots. I think even though it was a new experience it all felt really similar because you are able to live through all these places by just watching tv. I already knew what the Crysler building, Empire state building, Wall street, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and of course Central Park looked like form the numerous movies and tv shows which I have watched. I guess it didn’t feel really that new since we see it almost everyday.

Wall street

Empire State Building

Brooklyn Bridge

New WTC, Building 1

Statue of Liberty

We stayed in Brooklyn because the UN Summit had filled up all the hotels in the city. We got to see the new Barclays Stadium, and I kind of felt nice to know that Jay-Z was in it as I took the picture. I don’t know why, I’m not really into his music even. Either way, we did get a little bit of shopping done but didn’t really get to shop in the city because we only had 2 days.

Overall I would say it was nice to finally see the city which never sleeps, and also all the places these movies keep talking about. I don’t know if I loved New York as much as most do, I just found it a little lonely. I mean it’s crowded but lonely. I think I’m not just cut out for New York life, but it is an amazing city full of so much that it’s hard to believe how it all fits in there!